Pelvic girdle pain / SPD - how did you cope?

[PartridgeJoan]

Hi,

Currently 18 weeks pregnant and suffering with suspected SPD / PGP (opinions differ on this!).

From about 16 weeks onwards it's been getting worse each day and I'm now asking work to work from home until this is sorted.

Has anyone had this? How did you cope?

Already tried massages, hot water bottles, paracetamol and pregnancy pillow and am currently on the waiting list for physio.

Feeling a bit useless and conscious that I'm not even half way and already virtually bed bound!

My PGP got really bad with DS2, and a private Physio gave me a really effective excercise, bear with me as i try to explain!

Keeping your knees in line with your hips, not wide,
Put one foot in front, the other behind, in a short lunge position.
Keep your back straight,
Tuck your tailbone under your bum,
Tighten your stomach muscles.
Slowly dip down, keeping your pubic bone in a straight line, as if you were sliding down a pole and then raise up again, still keeping in a straight vertical line with tailbone tucked under and muscles tightened.
Repeat 5 times each side.

Does that make sense??

I used to get fairly sudden agony with PGP that would bring me to a halt in the middle of the high street, and this exercise was so effective i did it on the spot several times!!
Got me a few stares, but at least i was able to walk away after a minute.

I had pgp from 20 weeks with my second pregnancy. Having a pregnancy support pillow between my legs whilst I slept did ease the pressure. Although I wore pregnancy support bands etc around my hump, I didn't feel like it made much of a difference.
What really helped was the hydrotherapy sessions I was able to attend through my nhs physiotherapist. I would definitely recommend having a word with your physiotherapist and see if you can attend these sessions where you are. Being able to do gentle exercises in the hydropool really relieved the pressure and the pgp eased off. When I couldn't access the hydrotherapy sessions I went to my local swimming pool and practised the exercises there.
Good luck.

I had this for years after giving birth and at times could hardly walk. The best thing I found was to wear these big hold in knickers. Totally took the pain away.
www.amazon.co.uk/Ladies-MEDIUM-Control-Shapewear-Knickers/dp/B00IA06TB6/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=hold+in+knickers&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1538429662&sr=8-7

I saw an osteopath to recover from my pelvic pain after birth. Loads of great exercises, really helped - but you do have to work at it.

I could have written @Endofdiscone 's post except it is more like 18 years for me and things have got somewhat better but only through lots of help with an experienced osteopath - Pelvic Partnership helped with that though they were called something different then - and pilates, not yoga.

I no longer use a wheelchair much and crutches and pelvic belt did not help; nor did local NHS antenatal physio who saw me a few times and essentially wrote me off for life in a wheelchair!

Highly experienced osteopath In T Wells called Quentin Saw, if you can get there.

I had it moderately from 19 Weeks. Used a bump band, had lots of baths, pillow between knees and between ankles for night time side sleeping. It's a bugger!

Osteopathy sorted mine both times. I was amazed

Visit the site pelvic partnership, they're brilliant for this and are very good at highlighting just how crap nhs care can be on this - the people I saw all completely did the opposite of what their own guidelines say.

I've suffered terribly with it and it just enrages me that the nhs is still in the dark ages with this - crutches and basically saying deal with it. It IS treatable, and the pain can be brought down drastically but you will need physical manipulation of the joints which the nhs physios refuse to do. As others have said see someone that specialises in this area.

I'd agree with those saying that if you can afford it, it's worth finding your own physio and going very regularly.

I'm just at the end of my second SPD pregnancy - first it started at about 20 weeks and the NHS were useless. I saw a physio once who gave me a giant tubi grip (how on earth are you supposed to wear clothes with those things??) and basically left me to it. By the end of pregnancy I was crippled, had no flexibility at all and a pain free gap that wasn't physically big enough to give birth. I'm not exaggerating, I spent time with the head midwife trying different positions and angles and there was just no way to do it without exceeding my pain free gap and I was not prepared to do that.

Second time round, it started at 13 weeks. This time round I found a private physio who I have been seeing regularly; started off with giving me exercises to strengthen all of the muscles around my pelvis, abdomen and lower back to try and hold it together as well as doing lots of manipulation of the joints and pinpoint massage to release all the bits that get sore and tight and make the SPD pain worse. I'm now 38+5 and whilst I am in pain the noticeable difference compared to last time is that I have retained far more flexibility - the physio has stopped all the surrounding support muscles from seizing up.

I'd agree that in most areas the NHS are just not doing enough in this area.

Something else - if you have to sit at a desk consider trying a kneeling rocking chair (I have a varier variable, no backrest). I found this helped a lot, the position took lots of strain off my pelvis and the slight rocking motion meant that the muscles in my back/bum/abdomen didn't go to sleep - so when I get off it I don't get that feeling like my pelvis has just collapsed. Other chairs I'd stand up after 30 minutes and be physically unable to move for a minute or two.

First time round I had it from 10 weeks. Second time, from the day before my period was due (though had never fully gone in between). First time round I was on a lot of Co codamol. Physio did nothing, and I was told just to rest lots. Obviously slept with pillow between legs etc, but mostly it was just adjusting to a life mostly sat down, and waiting it out. I couldn't walk more than a few metres by the end.

I'm expecting worse this time. How that works with a toddler I have no clue.

Rest, rest, rest! Don't push yourself too much. Use the support belt (doesn't help much but can take the edge off).

I had it very very bad to the point that by the end I couldn't even walk with crutches. I needed a wheelchair.
lifting my belly up to relief the pressure whilst walking helped a lot but honestly it's never gone back to Normal and it's been 7 years! I still get a sharp twinge if I twist suddenly or hold something heavy.
also I was told bouncing on a birthing ball makes your pelvis open up more so to avoid it.
The belts they sell in Mothercare help a bit as they too hold the belly up a bit.

Second the pp toriaplum’s suggestion of an osteopath. It was the only thing that worked for me. Just do your research well and ensure they are familiar and practised in dealing with pregnant ladies. Most will happily discuss it with you beforehand and I can’t recommend it enough. Hope you feel better soon

Loads of sensible advice in this thread.

Whatever you do, do not take painkillers, grit your teeth and try to get on with things, leading to overdoing it. Or you'll end up like me, still not right 13 years later. Obviously take the pain killers if they help, just don't take them so that you can do more, iyswim, because it doesn't help long term.

I had this with my last 2 pregnancies, ended up on crutches. Now pregnant again, I read online that lecithin which is found in eggs can help, seems too good to be true but I’m going to try and eat more eggs and see if it helps. Has anyone else ever heard this?

God, reading this is bringing it all back to me.
My pelvis used to groan - really, it made an awful sound. And the loud snapping click when my pelvis snapped back into place. God , I thought it would never recover.
I’m lucky though, it did.

The thing that helped me the most was getting a tempur bed. Now I know the6 are horribly expensive but a decent memory foam topper might help. It was the only place where i had relative comfort.

Don’t do any long car journeys, haul a trolly round ( get your shopping delivered) or sitting on anything hard ( wooden seats ) .

Rest as much as possible. Get a cleaner if you have the expendable money. Accept all help. Accept that 7ntil you have baby the next few months will be a write off.

So, sit down, plan Christmas.
Do shopping online, order your wrapping paper, M&S food is online from yesterday ( yaayyy!) so get ordering !
Take it easy. You do not want to risk being like s9me of the poor ladies posting who still suffer.
You just have to rest as much as possible.
Good luck . X

My osteopath saw me through it.
There is a manoeuvre they can do which re-aligns the symphisis pubis and stops the pain. It's brilliant, and can give instant relief.
You can almost do it yourself, although I found it better when the osteopath did it for me - but doing it myself gave interim relief.

I wrote it down somewhere on MN - I'll see if I can find it and repost it here.

This works very well if you have SPD:

Lie on your back with your feet hip width apart on the bed and your knees bent up to right angles(ish). You won't be on your back long, don't worry.

1. Place your hands on the outside of your knees/lower thighs, and push your knees together at the same time as using your outer leg muscles to pull your knees apart. So you're creating resistance in your thigh muscles. Do this manoeuvre for about 5 seconds if you can (You might want to get your DH to do it for you, it's easier with another person holding your knees) then relax your leg muscles before you let go with the hands.
2. As soon as you release the outer knee, place your hands on the inner knee/lower thigh and push outwards, at the same time using your inner thigh muscles to try and pull inwards. Again for about 5 seconds and again relax the leg muscles before you let go.

1. Then repeat 1. again; and then repeat 2 BUT after the 5 seconds, suddenly let go with ONE of your hands while still using your inner thigh muscles. Your knee will bounce inwards, you might feel a sudden crack (this is your SP going back into position).

Then do it ALL again but next time, release the OTHER hand quickly at the end. If your SP didn't crack the first time, it probably will this time!
It can sound like a gunshot if it's a good release, other times you might not hear anything, or even feel anything, but it will still probably provide relief.

If that doesn't make any sense, or you need more explanation, I'll try and make it clearer. If your SP is well out of whack, it might hurt a little to do this to start with, and your muscles might feel too weak to put much pressure on (I found that when it was very bad, one leg would be too weak to do a good job) - this doesn't matter, the manoeuvre should still work so long as you get some pressure. If it hurts TOO much then please don't do it, of course. And if you start to feel dizzy, sick or faint at any point then STOP immediately and sit up, or roll over onto your side (knees together of course). You may find it easier with a pillow behind your upper body to help you reach your knees but the flatter you are, the better, so coercing someone else into helping you is a better plan.

Hope it helps - it certainly helped me a huge amount.

I've been suffering with this for a week or so so mentioned it to my midwife this morning at my appointment. She wasn't particularly sympathetic (not my usual midwife who was caught up delivering a baby so couldn't make it). She basically said its "one of those things" and is likely to get worse. She is going to refer me to physio though but said it could be 6 weeks before an appointment! Her other advice was to google exercises...Thankfully I have private health insurance so will definitely be using that instead!